Buy or Sell: Third Saturday in October Edition

After defeating Tennessee 10 straight times, Alabama looks to match their longest winning streak in series history as the Tennessee Volunteers come to Tuscaloosa for a 2:30 PM kickoff on Saturday.

The Alabama-Tennessee series has been known for lengthy streaks as the Crimson Tide won 11 in a row from 1971-1981 while Tennessee notched seven victories in a row from 1995-2001.

In addition to the double digit win streaks posted by Paul “Bear” Bryant and Nick Saban, Alabama went 8-0-1 against Tennessee from 1986-1994.

During that time span, former Alabama fullback and host of The Blitz Martin Houston never lost to the Volunteers from 1989-1992.

On Tuesday’s “Buy or Sell” segment of the program, Houston analyzed this year’s edition of “The Third Saturday in October” including his thoughts on whether a win over Alabama could save Tennessee head coach Butch Jones’ job.

While weighing the historic nature of a hypothetical Tennessee victory on Saturday, the former Alabama fullback elaborated on the fundamental issues plaguing the Volunteers football program under Jones’ watch.

“They still have the same stupid issues. Guys don’t tackle. They don’t play aggressive. There’s not good play calling. It’s just not a good program. The program is in a decline.” Houston stated.

In 2007, Alabama lost 10 of the prior 12 meetings with Tennessee heading into Nick Saban’s first encounter against the Volunteers as the Crimson Tide’s head coach. Alabama handed Tennessee a 41-17 defeat.

In that same season, Tennessee made their most recent SEC Championship Game appearance while Alabama finished 7-6 with a win in the Independence Bowl over Colorado.

Since that point, the Volunteers have not beaten the Crimson Tide while Saban has brought home four national titles and five SEC titles to Tuscaloosa.

Looking back over the last 10 years, Houston examined whether Tennessee is in worse shape now than when Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa after the 2006 football season.

“I would say much worse because as bad as it was for Alabama, in ’99 we won a (SEC) championship. In 2005 or 2006, we had a 10-win season.” Houston said.

As he explained his reasoning for how Tennessee’s slide is worse than Alabama’s slide prior to Saban’s arrival, Houston posed a simple question relative to Butch Jones’ accomplishments in Knoxville.

“What has Butch Jones shown you that he could do?” Houston said.

The host of The Blitz also explored the futures for LSU head coach Ed Orgeron and Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn after LSU’s 27-23 come from behind win over the weekend.

The Blitz begins live and local coverage of Alabama sports every weekday from 6-7 AM on Tide 102.9/100.9 and the Tide 102.9 app.